Good morning.
I wrote earlier this week that a sizable minority of Fortune 500 CEOs responding to our recent survey (48%) welcome the political pushback against ESG, and believe that environmental, social and governance goals (ESG) have been “unduly impacting business decisions.”
But not so for investors, employees and consumers. A survey out from USC and Weber Shandwick this week found nine out of 10 investors and seven out of 10 consumers and employees believe businesses “have a responsibility to play a role in addressing societal problems.” The majority of all three groups agreed ESG ratings were useful in making investing and buying decisions, or when taking a new job.
By the way, support for business involvement in social and environmental issues is strongest among young people. Eighty percent of millennial and Gen Z employees consider positive ESG ratings to be at least somewhat beneficial when making job decisions, versus just 61% of Gen X and Boomers. And 74% of millennial and Gen Z consumers said positive ESG ratings where beneficial when making purchasing decisions, compared to 57% for Gen X and Boomers.
The study was commissioned by Weber Shandwick’s United Minds consultancy to support a new service called Myriant, which is designed to help companies navigate an increasingly complex stakeholder landscape. “We can tell from this data that these issues are important to investors, consumers and employees,” United Minds CEO Kate Bullinger told me this week. “And they are even more important for the next generation.” You can read more on the research here.
And check out Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell’s interview with Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Next Gen conference in San Diego this week. Wood is high on A.I., Tesla, Twitter, Bitcoin, and the blockchain, and blamed her fund’s troubles last year on “macro problems” such as a “21-fold” increase in interest rates—a bit of statistical sleight-of-hand, given that rates were near zero.
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
